If DEs REALLY came back (which they haven't!) would Gillette start making them again?

[Christoph]

People like to say that DEs have made a comeback. I don't really think they have. They are still non-existant in the mainstream of shaving products. Most people under 35 don't know what they are, and they can't be found in the average drug store. They are strictly a niche market. Look of 'long tail market' and you will probably see Double Edged Safety razors as an example.

But if they really do catch on and become popular again, do you think Gillette would manufacture them again?

[likehotbutter]

and if they did...it would probably be out of zamack. no thanks!

[Debrushman]

I doubt we would be lucky enough for them to use zamack. It would be real cheap plastic.

[Whilliam]

Gillette is behind AOS, so they already are in upmarket shaving. If the AOS venture works out, I could see Gillette buying an existing brand, say Jagger or Muhle, and pumping some real money into them. JMHO, though.

Bill,

BOTOC

[Debrushman]

Gillette is behind AOS, so they already are in upmarket shaving. If the AOS venture works out, I could see Gillette buying an existing brand, say Jagger or Muhle, and pumping some real money into them. JMHO, though.

Bill,

BOTOC

They would have to pump alot of money into them. It would take a fortune to figure how to make them all in plastic, and to get them to break after the 10th shave.

[likehotbutter]

They would have to pump alot of money into them. It would take a fortune to figure how to make them all in plastic, and to get them to break after the 10th shave.

dont forget the vibrating de to go with the AOS battery brush

[oversaturn]

Gillette do makes safety-trazors nowadays, for the Asian market... Here's an example, taken from Joachim's website (a.k.a. Mr Razor):

[bonzos_beard]

i think i read somewhere that 80% of gillettes income is still from blades. which in black and white seems hard to believe............. maybe i dreamt it

[TimN]

i think i read somewhere that 80% of gillettes income is still from blades. which in black and white seems hard to believe............. maybe i dreamt it

Not so hard to believe if you look at what a refill package of Gillette Quatro Action or whatever they are called will set you back....

[Sledgehammer39]

I don't think Gillette would make them. I think if the popularity increases they would farm out the build to some other company to build.

[Oblique Human]

They most certainly will, considering the currently best regarded razors were manufactured by them several years ago.

[colaim]

Only if it could hold 6 blades at a time

[MACGI98z28]

Possibly. They would sell DE blades made for fractions of pennies overseas for use in cheap near-disposable (Tech-like) razors just like that one from India. I would not look for them to start selling Superspeeds, Slims and Fatboys again.

Ironically another serious economic downturn (think full-on Depression) could bring that market back to life for Gillette in a "race to the bottom" as tens of millions of economically-challenged people flee expensive carts. If low wages and poor working conditions can keep Gillette in the DE business in India, it can revive it here and elsewhere that it has died out.

[ateace]

There's no incentive for them to go back to a platform for which they hold no current patents.
They will continue to market razors like the Guard to developing markets and eventually push cartridges on them.

[Blondie]

They will never make DE razors again. How will they market that? "Oh, by the way, after 100 years of R&D, we've found the 'best a man can get' was developed 60 years ago". P&G did what big corporations do, saw a niche that could upset part of the market so they bought the market by buying AoS. By selling one or two Merkur razors in those stores they are satisfying the "quirky" shavers out there like us without bringing a "counter-message" to the mass-market.

[Borotva Penge]

They will never make DE razors again. How will they market that? "Oh, by the way, after 100 years of R&D, we've found the 'best a man can get' was developed 60 years ago". P&G did what big corporations do, saw a niche that could upset part of the market so they bought the market by buying AoS. By selling one or two Merkur razors in those stores they are satisfying the "quirky" shavers out there like us without bringing a "counter-message" to the mass-market.

There's no way they're going back to what stung them in the 1st place. They want to erase that chapter from existence and they will squeeze blood from stone to do it.


The Gillette is the beginning of the end for DE, if it takes hold in India.

With a market of 381,446,079 males 15-64 years of age in India, do you think Gillette is thinking about keeping DE???

The firstjob is to bring more consumers into Gillette," says Alberto Carvalho, P&G's vice president of male grooming in emerging markets. "When they start enjoying a better shave, they'll be more open to all solutions." Gillette Guard is aiming to lure users of double-edge razors, about 400 million men in India, according to P&G estimates. In India, a brand called Super-Max holds the lead in double-edge blades, which cost roughly 1.5 to 2 rupees, which is half of the cost of even Gillette Guard.

If you read the MISSION STATEMENT for the Guard on the P&G website, it is clear what they want from the India market.

Add yet another 983,000,000+ male 15-64 years of age in South East Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, etc.).

Let's not even add China's 491,513,378 males to it............


That is nearly 2 Billion guys that need a shave.

$660,000,000 if everyone bought a Guard

and $40,000,000 per shave after.

and then you slowly upgrade everyone upwards to Fusion-land or whatver the latest is now. Staggering.

[Valerius]

I doubt they would. Their DE razors which today are vintage should be a minimum of quality level if they opted to start production again. I think such an alternative would give too high production costs, and thereby too expensive products to be attractive on the market. With the number of vintage Gillette's on the market I really don't see where they should market a new built razor in the western hemisphere.

[surfsanclem]

Gillette is behind AOS, so they already are in upmarket shaving. If the AOS venture works out, I could see Gillette buying an existing brand, say Jagger or Muhle, and pumping some real money into them. JMHO, though.

Bill,

BOTOC

x2

This is exactly what I think also.

[Dio]

Maybe a little off-topic, but I am quite bemused by the amount of shops here in the UK that sell razor blades, but never the razors.

[michiganlover]

The Gillette is the beginning of the end for DE, if it takes hold in India.

Think I read somewhere recently, that the Gillette Guard is the best selling razor in India, a position achieved in a short two years. I would say there is no doubt about the Gillette Guard taking hold in India.


Sorry to burst any ones bubble, but Gillette is never going to produce DE razors on a grand scale for US markets ever again. There is simply no incentive for them to do so, and plus they would have to admit that their last 30-40 years of marketing was wrong. Sorry, but that's not going to happen!!

Not to mention, many men can finish a shave with a Mach 3/ Fusion in as little as five minutes. How would you ever convince such men (for whom shaving is a tortuous chore that must be endured) to embrace a shaving method that takes 3-4 times longer??

If there was some sort of total economic collapse, I could see Gillette marketing some sort of two bladed razor with dirt cheap carts (non-Gillette brand Trac II carts can be had right now for as little as .25-.30 cents each), but realistically, if I am jobless, and pinching pennies, I would probably just grow a beard; I can't see the need to be clean shaven as being of very great importance when my family could be starving, and losing our house.